THE PRESS BOX. IN THE ZONE.

A charitable guy

June 27, 2001

A golf pro who raised more than $25,000 for a county women's shelter by playing 504 holes in one day, says he was laboring near the end of his dawn-to-dusk odyssey.

"One of the requirements, more than anything, is that it requires a high pain threshold," Chris Crabtree said after 16 hours 18 minutes on the course. "By the end, I wasn't hitting the ball very far. I have to find something better to do on my day off."

About 200 people, many holding sparklers, greeted him on the 18th green after he finished at 9:18 p.m.

Crabtree, the pro at the Christiana Creek Country Club, averaged nearly 35 minutes a round and was aided by people driving him around on the course.

He hit 2,087 shots, giving him an average score of just over 74.5.

"I'm the type of golfer who won't scare the pros when I tee off in a tournament," Crabtree said. "If I played 28 rounds in 28 days, I probably wouldn't do any better than I did."

Chris Wright, communications director for the Indiana Golf Association, is used to Crabtree's marathons for charity.

"I think he did 300 holes the first year and 400 holes last year," Wright said.

Say what?

`I eat very well.'

Nicolai Valuev, who's 7 feet 2 inches and weighs 320 pounds, when asked what was one of his biggest assets as a boxer. The native of St. Petersburg, Russia, will fight George Linberger, a 6-3, 265-pounder, Saturday night.